Naismith’s Rule (WP7)

In 1892, Scottish mountaineer William W. Naismith came up with a rule to establish how long a hike would take given the distance travelled and height climbed. He decided to allow an hour for every 3 miles travelled, and half an hour for every 1000 feet ascended. Shortly afterwards, another gentleman named Tranter made a table of corrections to account for different fitnesses.

At the turn of the century, hikers would memorise Naismith’s Rule and carry Tranter’s table of corrections – now, a hundred years later, you can carry an equivalent that is somewhat heavier, requires batteries and operates poorly when wet. You can’t stop progress!